This invention relates to a bag for containing food items, such as sandwiches and hamburgers, that provides improved insertion properties and is capable of being converted to an eating surface.
A common problem with such food bags is that the insertion of the food item into the bag may be cumbersome. Several patents have addressed this problem by modifying the gussets at the open end of the bag. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 355,010 to Farnsworth discloses creases extending from the corners of the open mouth of the bag downwardly toward the central fold of the gusset. Upon opening the bag, the generally triangular regions defined by the creases in the gusseted side panels tend to spring out and enlarge the mouth of the bag and keep the mouth of the bag open.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 584,555 and 584,556, both to Lorenz, disclose the use of folds or creases in the gusset panels extending downwardly from the open mouth of the bag toward the central fold of the gusset. As with the Farnsworth patent, the regions defined by the creases in the gusseted side panels tend to spring out when the bag is opened, enlarge the mouth of the bag and keep the mouth open.
Further disclosures of the use of creases in the gussets near the mouth of the bag to facilitate the filling of a bag are present in U.S. Pat. Nos. 380,263 and 380,264, both to Lorenz.
Despite the modifications disclosed in the past, there is still a need to improve the insertion of food items in bags to avoid costly delays in serving the customer. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bag structure that leads to improved insertion of items into the bag.
Another problem with bags is that they may have a structure that is functionally inadequate to be used as an eating surface. U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,992 to La Grotteria uses perforations in a paper food bag that can be converted into a flat place mat. Conversion is accomplished by tearing the bag along perforations that serve to mark and guide the direction of tearing. A first line of tearing perforations extends circumferentially around the bag near its closed end. A second line of tearing perforations extends from the open end of the bag to the first line of tearing perforations.
The La Grotteria patent has the disadvantage that it is cumbersome to convert to a flat place mat since one is required to perform two separate tearing operations. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bag structure that lends itself to improved conversion to an eating surface.